A new peer sphere

BitTorrent baked into foreign devices

Now that BitTorrent has gone legit, the company used CES to unveil a line of software that enables its service to transfer files through live streams, and apps on Android and Apple’s iOS devices.

“Peer-based computing is the fastest way to send these huge files over the Internet,” Shahi Ghanem, chief strategy officer at BitTorrent said in a written statement. “This dovetails with the expanded abilities of smartphones, HD camcorders, and DSLR (cameras) to record high-quality files that easily can clear multiple gigabytes of space, either individually or taken as a group.”

More than 150 million people used BitTorrent and uTorrent in December, with 132 million people using uTorrent and more than 20 million people using BitTorrent.

The San Francisco-based peer-to-peer file-sharing company has also inked hardware deals to integrate BitTorrent’s file-sharing software in new devices that will enable users to exchange movies, photos and legally-owned entertainment files.

None of the hardware companies are based in the U.S., however, or are among the major device brands, with those firms opting to keep away from any issues with Hollywood.

BBK Electronics, popular in Russia, will integrate BitTorrent in its TVs, Blu-ray and DVD players.

“Our customers would like to easily playback hi-def content on their TVs and share it with friends,” wrote BBK representative Evgeny Zemskov in a statement.

Others are AirTies, makers of set-top boxes and routers in Europe, Russia, Ukraine and Turkey; Dune HD, which makes media players and Europe and Asia and Antik, which makes web-enabled TVs in Slovakia.